Slot concedes set piece focus is reshaping Premier League as Liverpool climb table

• Slot says physicality and set pieces now dominate top flight matches
• Liverpool score three times from corners in West Ham win
• Reds move within three points of Champions League places

Arne Slot has admitted his “football heart” does not enjoy the current tactical trends in the Premier League, but accepts the growing reliance on physicality and set pieces has made every match fiercely competitive.

Liverpool scored three times from corners in Saturday’s 5–2 win over West Ham United, underlining a dramatic improvement in dead ball efficiency since the turn of the year. Liverpool are the latest side to profit from the league’s increasing emphasis on set plays, with leaders Arsenal also having matched the Premier League record for most goals scored from corners in a single season.

Yet Slot admitted the stylistic shift has made matches less enjoyable to watch.

“First of all, you have to accept it,” said Arne Slot. “I think it’s mainly here in the Premier League. If I watch other leagues, I don’t think there’s so much emphasis on set pieces.

“If I watch an Eredivisie game, I see goals being disallowed and fouls on goalkeepers being given and I think, wow, that’s a big difference. Here, you can almost hit a goalkeeper in his face and the referee still says just go on.

“Do I like it? My football heart doesn’t like it. If you ask me, thinking about football, I think about the Barcelona team from 10 or 15 years ago. Every Sunday evening you were hoping they would play.

“Now, most of the games I see in the Premier League are not a joy for me to watch, but they are always interesting because it’s so competitive. Everyone can win against everyone. That’s what makes this league great.”

Liverpool’s victory lifted them to fifth in the table, just three points behind third placed Manchester United, strengthening their push for Champions League qualification.

They travel to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday but remain without midfielder Florian Wirtz, who is recovering from a back injury.

“The game tomorrow will probably come too soon, and maybe the game at the weekend as well,” Slot said. “We hope to have him back sometime next week, maybe a bit earlier or a bit later, but that is the timescale.”